Death Valley is really wide-open - it's bigger than Rhode Island - and it's less a part of California than an ungoverned territory so there's lots of weird cops-and-robbers stuff going on.

I'm a bad dater - I'm just not good at it. It's so weird dating in this town. It's like high school. I get a lot of people who have their publicist call my agent to ask 'Is she dating anyone?'

I don't really talk about my personal life. It's a strange and funny and weird thing. Sometimes you have a conversation with someone and the paparazzi snaps a picture of you and people decide you're dating. If I try to answer everything people say I would be up all night.

I'm the one who's dating the craft-service guy instead of the producer. Plus if a producer is going to date a hot young thing I'm probably not the first person on their list - the weird quirky funny girl.

It's weird to have people so interested in your personal life. It's a part of the business that grosses me out. I'm always bummed out for people who just happen to be dating a celebrity and they're also famous and they can't live their life.

Women always try to see the one good part of The Weird Guy because the dating landscape is so bleak. Women will say 'He's very odd but he likes to cook. He's creepy but he makes good pancakes!'

It's weird I never wish anything bad upon anybody except two or three old girlfriends.

I have a weird sense of humour. My dad's the same. We love watching 'Monty Python' together.

I used to listen to my dad a lot as a way of trying to be close to him as well because my parents were divorced and I didn't spend that much time with him. And I used to put headphones on and listen to my dad talk and sing and I found that quite... bonding with him in a weird way.

My dad's gay experiences really had a very positive influence on me and my straight relationships - how to better accept all the weirdness and ambiguity and ups and downs and paradoxes. I knew from the beginning I was writing about love.